James William Burmeister

Mr. Burmeister is a "no nonsense" attorney, well versed in the law, and gets tenants out! His price is fair....he has ability to do background checks, court issues, etc....just very capable. My daughter Lisa and I thought he would be rough to work with, after a telephone call...but not so! Highly... recommend him!!

This "lawyer" was hired to run my background when I applied to rent a house. Back in 2006, I was hospitalized for several months, making it impossible for me to pay my rent. The property manager changed the locks without notice or legal action. Because of my illness, I ended up losing everything I ow...ned. Years later, in 2011 I applied for my current apartment, and no evictions showed up on my record. I figured I must not have an eviction. So, when I applied for the house this week I reported no evictions. I guess I was wrong. I got a call today from this lawyer, calling from a blocked number, yelling at me, calling me a liar, and when he asked me to explain, he kept interrupting after one or two words saying "ANSWER THE QUESTION, LIAR! WHY WONT YOU ANSWER THE QUESTION!?!" He then hung up on me. I called the owner of the house, the only contact person I had, and who happens to be a former coworker, and told her what happened. He later called me and left a message accusing me of "going behind his back" and "trying to get him in trouble". If that's the weirdo washed up "attorney" turned landlord I've got to deal with, I wouldn't have rented the house even if I was approved. He also told the owner that "my credit was so bad I don't have a score". Which I know to be BS since I've just gotten my credit report while looking for houses.

I hired Mr. Burmeister in 2005 and again in Aug 2012. Rarely do landlords and property managers need to reach out to an eviction attorney if the tenant prescreening process is done correctly. When circumstances change and the tenant relationship with the owner/manager become unruly, James Burmeister ...is the professional to call! I met him in 1999 when a Mira Costa College professor asked him to speak at our property management class about tenant-landlord law. He’s a fair minded person that has a fiduciary to his client, with that said a reasonable a tenant could approach him to explore a fair/equitable outcome for all parties vs. the judge and maybe the sheriff getting involved. I’m very aware of deadbeat landlords/managers – some are sloppy and others can be malicious. There’s a vetting process that Mr. Burmeister uses and in the end there are cases he can’t or won’t take.

I made a call to this attorney to see about prices for services and he changed the subject and talked and talked explaining how wonderful he was as an attorney. OK, kind of egotistical but that is OK...Then when I asked again about the service fee told me one price for services that he immediately ch...anged when I took the time to come to his office. Again, it was tough to get a word in edge-wise. After 10 minutes of song & dance he tried to charge $25 for a free consultation and became unhinged and irrational when asked where this new fee arose from. When I explained that I would like to hire him later in the week he became a bully regarding this newly created fee for consultation. I think he would get a lot more business if he was not so aggressive, so pushy & listened to potential clients, as I truly wanted his services. It could have been a bad day but when I asked around I heard he has done this before. I would recommend future clients make sure he faxed or mailed his fee schedule to them in writing before working with him.